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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: shower · prune · branch · tear · safe · snap · present · fall

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. prune — to trim
  3. snap — to click
  4. present — the time now
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — the season
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. present — a gift
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. tear — to rip
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. present — there
  14. fall — to drop
  15. tear — from crying
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. tear — from crying
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. branch — a division
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. shower — rain

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com